One of the many brief extrageneric texts found among her late papers after her
death, Dickinson's final intentions toward this fragment remain unknown. It may
have been destined for incorporation into a poem, a letter, or another
composition; alternatively, it may be an experiment in aphoristic form; or,
possibly, a compressed lyric poem unrecognized as such because of the crudeness of
its material container. Dickinson may have added the variant "Boy" for "Child"
either during the initial drive of composition, or later, when reading through the
draft a second time. The variant appears supralinearly and in a smaller hand.